"As a result of our working partnership with the city of Bridgeport in which the Business Council provides support to the mayor's (Mayor Bill Finch) `B-Green 2020' plan to make Bridgeport into a cleaner and greener place, we have been hard at work over the last three years in developing an Eco-Technology Park on the West End of the city," Paul Timpanelli, BRBC president and CEO, said in a statement.

The DECD funding comes after Finch led an Earth Day tour in April of the city's Eco-Technology Park, a development of reclaimed derelict industrial land that is being touted as the home to a growing number of businesses that focuses on sustainable industries such as recycling and renewable energy.

Finch is a staunch proponent of the city's BGreen 2020 strategy, a plan that outlines 64 strategies to improve Bridgeport's quality of life through cleaning the soil and waterways, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and attracting "green" businesses and jobs.

"The concept here is to provide clustering opportunities for green businesses and renewable energy projects," Timpanelli said. "Our ultimate success in this effort will result in new green jobs, business retention and recruitment, capital investment and a reduction in the city's carbon footprint, and we are already seeing measured results from our work."

The park has attracted six new "green" businesses, according to Timpanelli -- Green Depot, American Oil Solutions, Park City Green, Tri-State Bio Diesel, the Dominion Fuel Cell facility and flexi Pave, resulting in the addition of more than 140 jobs.

The park will soon be home to a 13-acre solar energy project on a former landfill site, and the city is working with two private investors to establish an anaerobic food digester as well as a sludge digester to be located with the park, each of which will convert waste products into renewables, Timpanelli said.

The grant will enable BEDCO to hire a consultant to delineate the geography of the park and, with community input, develop steps to assist the city in achieving its redevelopment goals of "greening job growth," Timpanelli said in the release.

"Hopefully, this municipal development plan will be ready by the end of the year to then take to the City Council for approval," he said, adding that three nearby abandoned factory buildings will soon be converted into housing.

The conversion of brownfields into developable parcels of land is a priority for the DECD, said agency spokesman Jim Watson.

"That's a function that's happening in more cities across the state," he said, citing Bridgeport as a prime example. "What's unique is clustering them into this one area. These funds will help the city identify properties for cleanup and reuse. It's something we've committed a lot of money and resources to.--¨